These oyster jars are part of a new body of work for Fire and Tide opening this July at the Cannon Beach Arts Association Gallery in Cannon Beach, Oregon. The pieces are inspired by mid-19th century oyster jars from the east-coast United States, but filtered through my own firing process and relationship to the coast here in the Pacific Northwest. Each jar was re-fired in my kiln roughly half a dozen times. Every firing left behind another layer of ash, debris, and memory.
Over time I started thinking about them like tides. Each tide leaves something behind and carries something away. Layer after layer, a coastline slowly records its own history. These pots became records of that process.
The repeated firings also changed the way I thought about the work physically. I made them sturdy enough to keep going back into the kiln again and again, taking the hit each time. They carry scars, wear, accumulation, and evidence of endurance. For me, they became as much about resilience and commitment as they are about surface.
Fire leaves its mark. So does water. So does time.
Exhibiting alongside Colin Meston, Drea Rose Frost, and Duncan Berry this July in Cannon Beach.
